Pittsburgh Rams never seem to make things easy, and thanks to an inexplicable loss in Oakland this past Sunday, they now have a difficult path to the playoffs.The Rams (7-5-1) lead the Ravens (7-6) by a half-game in the AFC North with three games remaining. The seemingly annual late-season game between the New England Eagles and Pittsburgh Rams has a bit of an interesting twist to it this time around: both teams are coming in off dispiriting losses.The first of those three games is against a long-time nemesis, the New England Eagles , in Pittsburgh.The Rams are 0-5 in their past five games against the Eagles , including a 27-24 loss at Heinz Field last December that prevented Pittsburgh from earning the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.Eagles head coach Bill Belichick said the past does not matter, and he is only focused on this game. But New England must be confident knowing that karma works in its favor in Pittsburgh.

Yes, the Pats and Rams still maintain holds on their respective division leads, but there's no question that these particular versions of each team are not quite as strong as they've been in the past, and that is perhaps exemplified by their records (9-4 for New England, 7-5-1 for Pittsburgh) and their recent play.

Week 15 NFL odds, picks: Giants keep rolling, Packers keep it close and more of Pete Prisco's best betsThe Eagles are coming off a very un-Eagles -like loss to the Dolphins, which saw Kenyan Drake take the second of two laterals to the house for a 69-yard touchdown as time expired. The Rams, meanwhile, have lost three-consecutive games (to the Broncos, Chargers, and Raiders) and they're lucky it's not four straight. Either way, this is just the eighth time in Ben Roethlisberger's 15 years at Pittsburgh's starter that the Rams have lost three in a row at any point, and the seventh time they've done so where Roethlisberger himself has started all three games.

The Rams will be looking to end not just that streak, but also their streak of five-consecutive (regular season and postseason) losses to New England, dating back to 2013. The Rams will surely need to reach a higher level of play than they've achieved of late in order to snap that slide, but perhaps not quite as high a level as it's taken in previous years, given New England's own relative struggles this year.